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Growth, The Destruction of Nature in Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona

Click the link below to go to the Google Earth Engine for a 32-year aerial-photo time-lapse of the growth of Dewey-Humboldt (D-H) in central Arizona. The animation begins in 1984 and ends in 2016. The later photos in the series are higher resolution than the early ones, but you can still track the changes from beginning to end.

Though citizen efforts have slowed D-H growth, there has nevertheless been a substantial loss of natural vegetation. The greatest losses have been in the upland shrubs and chaparral vegetation of the town’s foothills. Watch the animation for appearance of the Prescott Country Club and the developments in the Blue Hills on the west side of town and along Foothill Road in the east. Substantial chaparral losses are also occurring in the unincorporated areas east of D-H.

There have been no successful efforts by citizens to slow neighboring Prescott Valley’s growth. The greatest losses there have been in the desert grasslands east and north of town. Once occupied by herds of antelope and other wildlife, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has written off the area as a lost cause.

The Google Earth Engine works for any place on planet Earth. Drag the scene to areas of interest and watch the time-lapse animation there.

GR: In a new report, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says that 40% of American lakes are polluted, and the situation is getting worse. The EPA blames “nutrient pollution,” but I’ll be more clear: The principal cause of American freshwater pollution is farming and the excess fertilizer that washes off the fields or soaks into the ground water. The photo below is from one of my ponds that has excess nitrogen that is probably from the nearby farm.

“Lakes and reservoirs provide many environmental, economic, and public health benefits. We use lakes for drinking water, energy production, food and recreation. Fish, birds and other wildlife rely on them for habitat and survival. In the National Lakes Assessment (NLA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its partners surveyed a wide array of lakes representative of those found in the U.S., from small ponds and prairie potholes to large lakes and reservoirs. The NLA is part of the National Aquatic Resource Surveys, a series of statistically-based assessments designed to provide the public and decision-makers with nationally consistent and representative information on the condition of the nation’s waters.” (Continue reading: National Lakes Assessment 2012 Key Findings | National Aquatic Resource Surveys | US EPA

GR: The insurance problem is growing and affects flood plains along rivers. This is because one of the results of global warming is the increase in extreme weather with high-intensity storms, “rain bombs,” and so forth.

“I hate to say it, but clearly at this point, the only thing that will get the attention of the climate denial crowd will be a disastrous crash in the coastal housing bubble, which may already be underway. My visit in Miami showed me clearly the degree to which South Florida, and many, many, Americans, are deeply in denial about what is happening right in their front yards. I’m sorry that so many are going to suffer, but wake-up calls are often painful.

“It’s a trillion-dollar bubble.

“Once again, this raises a key question for all Americans: What year will coastal property values crash?

“I first posed the question in 2009, pointing out that coastal property values will crash long before sea levels have actually risen a few feet. Instead, coastal property values will crash when a large fraction of the financial community, mortgage bankers and opinion-makers — along with a smaller but substantial fraction of the public — realize that it is too late for us to stop catastrophic sea level rise.

“When sellers outnumber buyers, and banks become reluctant to write 30-year mortgages for doomed property and insurance rates soar, then the coastal property bubble will slow, peak, and crash.

“This appears to be underway. As the Times reports, “Nationally, median home prices in areas at high risk for flooding are still 4.4 percent below what they were 10 years ago, while home prices in low-risk areas are up 29.7 percent over the same period, according to the housing data.” Since 2001, “home sales in flood-prone areas grew about 25 percent less quickly than in counties that do not typically flood.” –Peter Sinclair (Continue reading: Is Your Mortgage Under Water? No, I mean Really – Under Water. | Climate Denial Crock of the Week.)